Training Plan: I will meet with each trainee to come up with an individualized training plan when they join the group based on their career aspirations. We will revisit this training plan annually to set/revise goals.

Meetings: I will hold individual meetings with all the lab members on a weekly basis. The aim of these meetings is to review the data generated in the previous week, troubleshoot any technical problems, brainstorm together and establish research goals for the subsequent week. These meetings will also serve the purpose of discussing any issues brought up by the lab members, ensuring the well-being of individual group members, and communicating other training/work-related activities. If necessary, we can schedule additional meetings.

In addition, we will have weekly lab meetings and/or journal clubs. Every lab member is expected to attend, present, and give constructive feedback. This is a collective effort to review the literature and advance the research projects. Everyone’s opinion is valuable.

Open door policy: If the office door is open, feel free to come in to talk about any professional or personal issues.

Communication: You can reach me by email or text for any professional or personal matters. I will respond as quickly as possible. In case of emergencies, please feel free to call my cell.

We will use Slack as the primary means of communication for issues that affect the majority of the lab.

Data management: The lab will provide members with computers. We will use an electronic lab notebook for record keeping. All the raw data should be kept on the institute’s servers or the lab’s cloud account, and indexed in the lab book.

Lab responsibilities: Everyone will have lab duties to ensure that lab’s daily operations moving smoothly. We will decide on individual responsibilities as a group and revisit them at least annually.

Expectations: My role is to support your professional development and help you reach your career goals. I will do my best to be a mentor, sponsor, and advocate. I will be prompt and transparent in my communications. I will provide guidance to the best of my ability, promote your work, help you establish a network, and be an advocate for larger administrative issues. Each lab member is expected to work in a team-based environment and perform rigorous science.

Social events: We look forward to celebrating all the achievements, birthdays, and special events together!

Scientific excellence and innovation: Our goal is to help cancer patients primarily by understanding immunological mechanisms and developing immunotherapies. However, science is not a linear process, and we will pursue its leads. We will work with researchers across fields to perform innovative and high-impact studies.

Scientific independence: Every lab member is encouraged to further their projects and to remain curious. Each one of us should seek to improve ourselves, broaden our knowledge base, learn new techniques, find additional mentors and establish collaborations.

Social responsibility and accountability: We are a publicly funded lab. We are responsible for sharing our findings with the broader scientific audience and the public. We will make our research and resources accessible, present our work at conferences, and post our findings to preprint services prior to peer review.

Teamwork: Collaboration is the key to impactful research. We seek to work together with researchers with different expertise and clinicians to achieve scientific excellence. We function as a team. Collegiality, willingness to help others, and peer-to-peer mentoring are the pillars of the team culture.